Hero
by ATwriter123
Summary: Heroism is one of those strange, wonderful traits that are always found at the most needed of times. And in a place like Ooo, where evil is a serious career choice, this dependable consistency is quite the appreciable miracle, despite all the other attributes of the hero.


Finn is a hero.

It's a name given to him by the many inhabitants of Ooo, or rather, the people who know of him and the people whom he has affected. While names can be misleading or incorrect, this is the occasion where 'hero' fits many of his attributes, and he's always letting that defining part of him be on display for the world, to be judged and to be proven by his actions. He never resists this openness, because Finn is not tentative, or subtle, or hesitant. Many of the things that he does are for other people, both little and big. The little people are constants, and will always love a hero. And no one can deny that Finn is a hero, because he does nothing to prove otherwise.

(The bigger people will just look at him.)

Finn is also a boy.

A boy, shoved into the awkward mold of adolescence. The boy and the hero coexist perfectly: the boy simply existing, and the hero having the right actions carried out. The perfect combination of will and unfulfilled potential. He can stay a boy forever. But he can also change. Who is he to deny the response of the passage of time, of the development of the mind and essence? He is a hero, nonetheless, and that is a rare constant. So does a hero live and act for himself, or for others? Or rather, their problems? It does not matter who he is. The boy does not matter, as long as he does the right thing. He is a hero. But he is also a boy.

(But more importantly, a hero.)

**-0-**

(The little people will love him)

"Finn, what're ya doin'!"

Jake's running after him now.

"I don't really know, man. Just was gonna take a little walk, kinda forgot to tell you. Whoops…"

Jake's exasperated now. When no one's looking, Finn sometimes leaves on random walks, and he doesn't come back for a long, unsure while. These few excursions aren't ever worrying enough for action to take place, but today, Jake made surprise plans to do something, anything, with him. This interference is coincidence, really.

"Hey, but seriously though, what _are _you doing?"

He's not sure himself.

"I'm not sure myself… It's weird."

Jake has suspicions, because he's _Jake_, and he's always thinking something about something. Just like the Bubblegum Princess.

"Is it your lady problems? I told you, Flame Princess was a bad idea from the get-go. It wasn't going anywhere anyways. You guys couldn't even touch, and that's pretty important."

"Yeah…"

"Listen man, just go out there like the bachelor you are, n' honey up some sweets! I can help if you want."

"… I don't know."

And he really doesn't.

**-0-**

(The big people will look at him)

The world is swirling and beating at the windows of Finn's house. There are no falling knives, but the rain comes down hard and the wind shakes the limbs of the tree he resides in. It doesn't matter; Finn's not giving attention to the world at the moment.

He's thinking about Flame Princess.

He doesn't really understand her. Cinnamon Bun? Really?

He liked her. Had feelings for her. She was pretty, relatively cool, and not evil. She was everything he wanted. And of course he cared about her. He did. He really did. Does. Did. Did…?

She wasn't a grown-up, like P.B.

Why take this 'betrayal' of her trust so seriously?

He cared about her. He… definitely did.

He was desirable. Is it something that wasn't delivered? No, he's more than sufficient.

So why wasn't he enough for her? What does she want that he doesn't give? What does he do wrong? It was one mess up. So why…?

She's not with him anymore.

**-0-**

(Finn is a hero)

"Help me, oh dear Glob, help!"

A giant fire wolf, possessed by an uncaring, ravenous, but not quite malevolent fire spirit, is terrorizing a small village near the pyric wastelands of the Flame Kingdom. It's burning for destruction, it's burning for their shrieks, the _smash _and the _push_ and the _crash_ and the _tearing through the throat more scream scream upheave it out_-

But no, Finn's there now, and with a kick to the muzzle the spirit's mindless rampage of self-indulgence is halted to a _horrible stasis give it more give me more I need need need break more push at resistance never stop never enough_-

A punch now, and a slice at a hind leg, an evasion, another attack. Finn's going to finish the beast when-

"Stop!"

Cinnamon Bun is there, bearing a lance and a kind of holy flame upon his brow. It must have some sort of divinity, as it's given to Cinnamon Bun but not to Finn. A hero's grace is very different than that of a God, after all. And Finn wouldn't have given it to Cinnamon Bun.

"Please spare the wolf! I can save her!"

When it's all said and done, Finn does show mercy. It's a hero's grace.

**-0-**

**AN:**

**I'm honestly not sure what to call this. It's kind of like a character study on Finn, but kind of not. I don't even know what genre to call it.**

**Woah. It's been a while since I posted anything. I'd say to blame my comatose muse, but my absence is mostly because I'm lazy. Like, reaaaaally lazy. And in the end, this probably took like 2 hours to do, most of it just editing stuff. I actually started writing like 4 other fanfictions in the past year, but they all sputtered out and died. This lived though, in its own 'special' way.**

**Alright, break down time, cause this is really abstract (doesn't help that my grammar is as confusing as shit and I alternate between Finn POV and Narrator without any defining sense, whoopsy doodle). Feel free to ignore my take-away; you don't have to listen to me. Finn is a boy, and he is human. So, he naturally thinks less about the unconditional loves that he receives. The people who love him unconditionally, such as Jake, are 'little', because they're constant. He knows, on some level, that he'll never lose that love, so he doesn't worry about it, and doesn't feel as much about those relationships. Jake is one of the little people.**

**On the other hand, the associations that _aren't_ unconditional, such as that with Flame Princess, are much more valuable, because he can lose them. So, she is a 'big' person, more important, and Finn spends much time throughout the fic thinking about her. The big people look at him, see his actions and character, and that perception is not constant. So, while they could still love him, they will always look at him.**

**Finn can be kind of a jerk. He does NOT actually care about Flame Princess. He wants her because he wants a romantic relationship, and she fits the bill. This is shown in the canon when, as soon as he is dumped, he goes looking for new options, one of them being Princess Bubblegum. He does not actually want _her_.**

**Finn is not subtle, and does not comprehend many of the subtleties of the world around him, like why Flame Princess is done with him. Ironically, it's Cinnamon Bun that grasps many more of these clarities, such as just how devious Princess Bubblegum really is. Finn's also a little mean again, feeling that it's more of a charitable divine grace rather than C.B.'s own personality and attributes that puts him with F.P. After all, Finn certainly wouldn't have given him that. (He doesn't actively think this or is conscious of it, that part is Narrator pov)**

**But, despite all, Finn does the right thing in the end, and spares the possessed wolf. And here we get into the whole hero-boy thing. It doesn't really matter what Finn is as long as he a hero, because no specific action will be spurned because of the boy. It really was a coincidence that Jake felt the need to stop him on his walk. It's the hero part that has action. It's the hero part that actually happens in the world; it doesn't matter that there's more to him if in the end, Finn does the important things as a hero. He might fail at subtleties, and make his girlfriend break up with him, but when he can actually understand what's happening, he will do the right. He has a hero's grace.**

**Anyways, review and all that shit please. If I felt like I had responsibility, maybe I would find the inspiration to write more~**


End file.
